Biography for
Elia Kazan

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Date of Birth

7 September 1909, Constantinople, Ottoman Empire [now Istanbul, Turkey]

Date of Death

28 September 2003, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA (natural causes)

Birth Name

Elias Kazanjoglou

Nickname

Gadg
The Actor's Director

Height

5' 8" (1.73 m)

Mini Biography

Elia Kazan, known for his creative stage direction, was born Elia Kazanjoglous in Istanbul in 1909 to Greek parents. He directed such Broadway plays as "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof". He directed the film version of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and many other films. He is a proponent of the method approach to acting, developed by Konstantin Stanislavski. Kazan received two best director Academy Awards, for the films Gentleman's Agreement (1947) and On the Waterfront (1954). He has written many films about Greek immigrants, such as America, America (1963). These films are based on his novels. Kazan's autobiography, published in 1988, is entitled "Elie Kazan: A Life".

IMDb Mini Biography By: Matt Dicker

Spouse

Frances Rudge	(26 June 1982 - 28 September 2003) (his death)
Barbara Loden	(5 June 1967 - 5 September 1980) (her death) 2 children
Molly Day Thatcher	(5 December 1932 - December 1963) (her death) 4 children

Trade Mark

Frequently cast Marlon Brando and Karl Malden

Trivia

His selection for an Honorary Oscar angered many in the filmmaking community on account of his being among the first to cooperate with the House UnAmerican Activities Committee in 1952, which led to the blacklisting that ruined many careers in Hollywood because of their political beliefs, and that Kazan had publicly stated that he had no regrets for that action. In response, there were loud protests against his selection for the award and many attendees of the awards ceremony itself stayed in their seats and refused to applaud when he received the award. For his part, Kazan quickly received the Oscar and left the stage with only a few thanks in response to the hostility.

Was Francis Ford Coppola's first choice for the role of Hyman Roth in The Godfather: Part II (1974)

Is the 1958 recipient of the prestigious Connor Award given by the brothers of the Phi Alpha Tau fraternity based out of Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. He is also an honorary brother of the fraternity.

Kennedy Center Honoree, 1983

Father of Nicholas Kazan.

Father-in-law of Robin Swicord.

4 children with Molly: Judy, Chris, Nick, and Katharine. 2 children with Barbara: Leo and Marco.

Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945- 1985". Pages 503-510. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.

In 1956 he received his third Tony nomination for Best Director. This was for his direction of the play "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof".

In 1958 he received his fourth nomination for Best Director. He was also nominated that same year in the category of Best Play along with co-producer Arnold Saint Subber. Both nominations were for the play "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs".

In 1958 he won his third Tony Award for Best Director. This was for the play "J.B."

In 1960 he was nominated for his seventh Tony award. This was to be his last nomination. This nomination was for the play "Sweet Bird of Youth".

Directed 21 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances: James Dunn, Celeste Holm, Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, Anne Revere, Jeanne Crain, Ethel Barrymore, Ethel Waters, Karl Malden, Vivien Leigh, Kim Hunter, Marlon Brando, Anthony Quinn, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Jo Van Fleet, James Dean, Carroll Baker, Mildred Dunnock and Natalie Wood. Dunn, Holm, Malden, Leigh, Hunter, Quinn, Brando, Saint and Van Fleet all won Oscars for their performances in one of Kazans movies.

Screenwriter Budd Schulberg, who won an Oscar for On the Waterfront (1954), told "Fox News" (1987) in October 2003 that he had seen Kazan in September, just before his death at age 94. He claimed that Kazan was still complaining that Darryl F. Zanuck of 20th Century-Fox had passed on making "Waterfront".

According to Kazan, his first name was pronounced "l-EE-ah".

Attended acting class of Michael Chekhov in Hollywood.

Won three Tony Awards for Best Director: in 1947 for Arthur Miller's "All My Sons;" in 1949 for for Miller's "Death of a Salesman;" and in 1959 for Archibald Macleish's "J.B." He was also Tony-nominated four other times: in 1956, as Best Director, for Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof;" in 1958, as Best Director and co-producer of Best Play nominee, William Inge's "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs;" and in 1960, as Best Director (Dramatic) for Williams' "Sweet Bird of Youth."

Founded the Actors' Studio in 1947 with Cheryl Crawford and Robert Lewis.

Despite having had two cinematic successes with Tennessee Williams works A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) and Baby Doll (1956), Kazan did not direct the movie version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), although he won a Tony Award nomination as Best Director for staging Williams' Pultizer Prize-winning play on Broadway. Richard Brooks directed the film. During the play's production, Kazan had had trouble with Williams, and eventually demanded that Williams rewrite the second act of the play to bring Big Daddy back on stage. Williams complied, but had Big Daddy tell what Kazan felt was the equivalent of a dirty joke, possibly out of pique.

Known to direct Method Actors, and was the only director to have worked with arguably the three earliest and most famous: James Dean, Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift. In addition to those three, he directed Robert De Niro in The Last Tycoon (1976).

Grandfather of Zoe Kazan.

Personal Quotes

[on James Dean] Dean's body was very graphic; it was almost writhing in pain sometimes. He was very twisted, as if he were cringing all the time. Dean was a cripple anyway, inside -- he was not like [Marlon Brando]. People compared them, but there was no similarity. He was a far, far sicker kid and Brando's not sick, he's just troubled.

[on Marlon Brando] To my way of thinking, his performance in On the Waterfront (1954) is the best male performance I've ever seen in my life.

[on Natalie Wood] The quality I remember about her was a kind of sweetness. When her persona fitted the role you couldn't do better. She was it.

[on Marlon Brando] He was deeply rebellious against the bourgeois spirit, the over-ordering of life.

[on James Dean] He was sad and sulky. You kept expecting him to cry.

[on John Ford] Orson Welles was once asked which American directors most appealed to him. "The old masters," he replied. "By which I mean John Ford, John Ford and John Ford." Well, I studied "Young Mr. Lincoln," for example. As I say, John Ford had a big influence on me.

[on Kirk Douglas] He fits into being an advertising man and a driving, ruthless person better than Brando could have. You would always suspect Brando. Kirk's awfully bright. He's as bright a person as I've met in the acting profession.

[on James Cagney] I learned something from Jimmy Cagney -- he taught me quite a lot about acting. Jimmy taught me some things about being honest and not overdoing it. He even affected my work with Brando a little bit. I mean, "Don't show it, just do it."

[on Faye Dunaway] Faye carries a cloud of drama round with her. There is something in her at hazard.

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